So, I’m thrilled that I was asked to be part of the Wapsi Girl project. I’m a recent addition to the Wapsi fans (Wapsites? Can’t be “Squares”…we’re way too cool for that!). I was shown the comic because of my similarities to one of the main characters, Monica. We’re both 4’11”, we’re both half-Latina, and we both use the upper end of the bra alphabet. At first, it was just a neat “wow, cool” factor, but then I started reading the strip. I devoured the archives in a couple days, and I was blown away by the storytelling and the feminist and body-positive elements to it.

So, the big question…what is a Wapsi Girl. To me, it’s someone who keeps going when the world tries to convince her she can’t, or that she’s not good enough, strong enough, or anything-else enough. How so I fit into that?

I’m a girl in the middle of two cultures. Dad is Russian. Mom is Mexican. And that made me anything but fitting in with the rich white folks that lived where I do. I was the only brown girl in my class at school several times. And sadly, the people where I lived were racist as heck. Then there were the physical elements. When everyone else was getting their growth spurts and growing up, I was getting mine and growing out. So here I was, a midget whose boobs were as big as her head. Or at least, that’s how I felt.

It wasn’t until I got to college that I found any kind of self-esteem. For the first time in my life, I was determined to make it on my own merits, not just because of dad’s money. And after falling out with my mom, I didn’t have a lot of choice. So I had to get a job of my own, find roommates. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it. I had to find that strength, to keep going despite the world telling me everything I couldn’t do.

Then I started to get into modeling. And let me tell you, when you look like I do, that’s nothing but a list of people telling you every way in which you’re not good enough. Too “ethnic”. Too short. Too busty. Not cookie-cutter enough.

But I’ve stopped listening to everything about what I can’t do. Sure, I might never be a New York runway model. I’ll never be tall, I’ll never be slender and willowy. But I’ve got friends, I’ve got a career, and I’m HAPPY, on my own and following my dreams despite everyone trying to kick the legs out from under me.

Not to ignore the fact that you are exquisitely phenomenal! You are beautiful and exotic… I realize this is coming from a white middle class male… so who knows I may be biased… but I think your story is awesome and you are a spectacular young lady ( I can say that I’m probably old enough to be your dad)